University Troubles
by downtonfan1998
Summary: Downton University is one of the most prestigious in Britain. When Anna Smith begins there she starts making new friends and new enemies. While falling in love with a man with troubles, she encounters the dark side of the university. Homophobia, drugs, alcohol and sex. Will contain pairings: Charles Carson/Thomas Barrow, Elsie Hughes/Sarah O'Brien and John Bates/Anna Smith.


Anna Smith sat staring out of her taxi window as they got closer to Downton University, one of the most prestigious universities in the country. She was 18 years old and had just left secondary school, gaining an A, A, A* in Maths, English Language and English Literature. She was pretty with blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and clear pale skin. She watched as the various buildings and students heading to the university rushed by her. The taxi stopped outside an elegant looking building, which Anna knew was the main building on the campus. She paid the taxi driver and pulled out her massive suitcase and laptop bag, the rest of her things were coming later, then turned and joined the steady stream of students walking through the iron gates.

She had only walked about 10 steps inside, when it dawned on her that she had no idea where her accommodation was. Looking round she saw other new students asking obviously older students. She wheeled her suitcase up to a smiling blonde girl in her early 20s, who was wearing a Downton University jumper.

" Excuse me..." The girl turned and smiled even wider if that was possible.  
" Yes, how can I help?" Anna was slightly disconcerted by the girl's overly cheery attitude.  
" Could you tell me where Jameson Lodge is?" Anna asked. The girl's smile wavered slightly, then returned with full intensity.  
" Of course. Just follow this path round the main building, then turn right. You should come to a group of bungalows. Don't worry it's clearly labelled," Anna smiled slightly, though she could hear annoyance in the girl's voice.  
" Thanks," Anna walked away, but not before she heard the girl mutter to one of her friends.  
" She'd better not flirt with any of the men, they're mine," The predatory tone of voice made Anna shiver, why would she flirt with her housemates.

After walking for about 5 minutes, she finally came to the turn off towards the bungalows. Well at least she didn't lie to me, Anna thought optimistically. She looked around, the saw the sign for Jameson Lodge. She noticed that there were two expensive cars, a jaguar and a porsche, outside the lodge, making her frown. She hadn't been expecting to be staying with any rich people. She sighed, then walked up to the door and knocked. She heard voices inside, then the door opened to reveal a handsome man.

He was tall, several inches taller than Anna, with broad shoulders. His jet black hair was slicked down, except for one unruly looking curl on his forehead. He had a handsome face and a romanesque nose, with a neatly trimmed beard and glasses. He was wearing a tailored black suit, with a turquoise silk tie and waistcoat.  
" You'll be our new housemate then," He had a deep baritone voice, with a strong Australian accent.  
" How do you know that?" Anna asked confused. The man smiled. He is very handsome Anna thought, then shook her head.  
" Well the suitcase is the first clue. And you are here with all the other first years," He said with an amused tone to his voice, causing Anna to blush.  
" I'm Anna. Anna Smith," She said putting her hand out for him to shake. He took it in his large hand which swamped hers.  
" Well Anna Anna Smith, welcome to Jameson Lodge. It's nice to meet you. I'm Charles Carson," He bent down and picked up her suitcase. " Come in,"

Anna followed Charles inside, her eyes growing wide at the impressive house. She was standing in an open plan living room and kitchen, which was elegantly decorated with modern furniture. She jumped at a loud clatter from the kitchen. Charles sighed then put her suitcase down, leaning against the kitchen counter.  
" Thomas, our new housemate is here," He stated. Suddenly a man's head appeared making Charles pull back sharply. The man, Thomas, was similar to Charles, with black hair and a handsome face. He stood up and Anna saw that he was slightly slimmer, shorter and had messy hair.  
" Hey, I'm Thomas Barrow," He had a strong welsh accent, and a higher pitched voice than Charles. Anna smiled.  
" I'm Anna Smith," Thomas smiled back and Anna noticed he was wearing a blue jacket, a white polo shirt and jeans.

Thomas turned to Charles.  
" The sink's gone a bit iffy again," Charles sighed  
" I'll show Anna her room then come and have a look," Thomas nodded then bent down again. Charles picked up her suitcase.  
" Follow me," Anna followed Charles through a door and into a corridor with three doors either side and one at the end of the corridor.  
" This is my room," Charles explained gesturing at the nearest door.  
" That's Elsie's , Thomas', Sarah's and John's," he continued pointing at each door in turn. " And this is your room," Charles opened the door and let Anna in before him. She looked around at the room. It was a plain white room, with a wooden bed, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe and a small table it reminded Anna of a prison cell.  
" I know it doesn't look that nice, but when you've decorated it looks OK," Charles explained as if reading her mind. Charles placed her case on her bed."

" Come through when you're ready," Anna nodded.  
" Thank you Charles," He nodded then left when he appeared suddenly around the door again.  
" Do you drink tea or coffee?,"  
" Coffee please. White, no sugar," Charles nodded then left again.

When she had finished unpacking, Anna walked back into the main living area and was surprised to see a woman talking to Charles and Thomas.  
" Ah Anna. Your coffee is one the side," Charles said. The woman turned around and smiled at Anna. She was shorter than Charles and quite slim, but also beautiful with auburn hair, sparkling blue eyes and clear pale skin. She put a hand out.  
" I'm Elsie Hughes, it's a pleasure to meet you," Her voice had a gentle, calming Scottish lilt to it. She was wearing tight slim cut jeans, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and red glasses. Anna took an instant liking to her as she took Elsie's hand and introduced herself. They had just sat down in the living room, when Elsie asked " So what course are you doing?"  
" I'm doing a teaching course. I really want to be an English teacher," Elsie nodded an interested look coming over her face.  
" I'm doing psychology, Thomas is doing Chemical Engineering and Charles is reading Classics," Anna nodded then asked the question that had been bugging her since she heard Charles speak.  
" Is anyone else in this house English?" She asked curiously.  
" Well if you mean English speaking then we all are, but if you mean English nationality then no you're the only one. I'm Welsh, Elsie's Scottish, Charles is Australian, Sarah's Irish and John's American," Thomas explained.  
" This means the top 5 students at the most prestigious universities in England," Anna giggled as Charles made his voice sound overly English and pompous. " Are from foreign realms,"  
" Which is incredibly ironic," Elsie sighed causing them all to start laughing.

They had been talking for about 10 minutes, when the door opened and a man and a woman walked in. The man was very attractive, not as tall as Charles or Thomas, but broad. He was limping and had brown hair. Wearing a leather jacket, and jeans he looked very different to his friends. The woman was Elsie's height, had brown curly hair and was wearing a short dress and leggings. They introduced themselves as John Bates and Sarah O'Brien, and as Thomas had told her before were American and Irish. It was revealed that John was doing physiotherapy and Sarah was doing photography.

After another half an hour Anna asked " Where's the loo?" causing her to blush when they all looked at her.  
" Just through the corridor, the door at the end," Anna smiled then left. When they heard the door close, John turned to his friends.  
" You are going to tell her that you and Thomas, and Elsie and Sarah are dating aren't you Charles?" Charles nodded.  
" It wouldn't be fair not to,"  
" And it would avoid any awkward revelations," Thomas added. They looked up as Anna came in and gestured for her to sit down. When they had explained they looked at Anna nervously.  
" So Charles' is dating Thomas and Sarah's dating Elsie. That's so cute!" She exclaimed.  
" Not quite the reaction we were expecting," Charles stated dryly, causing all 6 of them to laugh.

They had been talking for hours, after breaking slightly for dinner, when the clock chimed midnight.  
" I suggest we all head to bed, we don't want to sleep in tomorrow. Especially you Anna on your first day," Charles said. They all nodded in agreement, then left and went to their respective rooms after bidding each other goodnight. Charles changed into his black silk pyjamas, then turned his laptop on and grabbed a bottle of water and a sandwich from his mini fridge. He loaded up the internet and one of his movies , when then there was knock on his door. He looked up as the door opened and Anna came in.  
" Is everything alright?" He asked concerned. Anna nodded.  
" I'm just feeling a bit homesick. I know it's silly, but..." Charles cut her off.  
" Being homesick isn't silly. Come here," Anna walked over and sat on the bed, leaning her head against Charles' shoulder. He put his arm round her and gave her a cuddle, instantly making her feel better. She took the the opportunity to look at Charles' room. It was very neat and the wardrobe door was ajar showing her several neat suits in varying colours. The walls were covered in TV and film posters from Star Wars to Grease to Spooks. Charles followed Anna's gaze.  
" As you can tell I like films," Anna smiled.  
" I've never liked films," Charles looked aghast.  
" That's sacrilege," He exclaimed his Australian accent getting stronger and causing Anna to giggle.

She stopped when the door opened and Thomas came in wearing a dressing gown. He stopped as he saw Charles and Anna.  
" Oh sorry I'll just wait outside," Anna shook her head and stood up.  
" No, it's fine. I'm just going. Thank you Charles. He nodded and she left the room. Thomas moved and snuggled up to Charles.  
" What was that about?"  
" Anna was homesick," Thomas frowned sympathetically.  
" I've been there. Now what are we watching," Charles gave him the box.  
" Gosford Park by Julian Fellowes. You know the one who created that Downtown Abbey or something like that,"  
" A period drama," Thomas moaned, scrunching up his nose.  
" You said you wanted something different, but I do have Die Hard here," Thomas smiled and Charles swapped discs, then they settled closer and played the movie.

* * *

**A/N: Please review, I will love you forever if you do. The Downton Abbey typo is intended and the next chapter will be up soon. As always everything belongs to Julian Fellowes.**


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